Dogs off leash an increasing problem in C&O Canal Park

Dogs are required to be leashed in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, though officials there say dogs off leash are becoming more of a problem as visits to the park increase.

While visitors keeping their dogs off leash have long been a problem in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, according to park superintendent Kevin Brandt, the problem has been on the rise lately.

"Every year the problem gets a little bit worse because of the higher level of visitation," Brandt said.

It's a violation of National Park Service rules to keep a dog off a leash both in the park and most public areas in the county; though dogs off leash in the park can be a problem especially as the weather warms and more people want to get outdoors with furry friends. But according to Brandt, who himself owns three dogs, dogs off leash can cause problems for park visitors with leashed dogs and for wildlife.

"As good as many dogs are about following their owners' verbal commands, it's still somewhat unpredictable as to the movements of a dog if they're on the towpath," Brandt said. "They can dart out in front of bicyclists, bother people who are very afraid of dogs or who may be allergic to dogs" as well as dart after a wayward deer, fox or groundhog, Brandt said.

Members of the park's volunteer bike patrol have also been bitten, Brandt said.

"You get 100 yards away from public roads and people think it's safe to let my dog off a leash, not thinking the dog might frighten wildlife or the dog might start mixing it up [with another dog] and someone might get hurt as a result of it," said Peggy Dennis, a Potomac resident whose husband was bitten by a dog in the park a few years ago and was sent to the hospital with blood poisoning. Dennis said her husband was walking their dog Loki when an unleashed dog attacked the leashed pet, and her husband was bitten while trying to free the animal.

The park is peppered with signs and graphics indicating that dogs must be leashed, though some have raised questions about enforcement of the regulation. Potomac resident Margarete Rodousakis, 64, walks her dog —an Australian cattle dog and Pointer mix — nearly every day in the park using a leash. She reports she sees a dog off a leash at least twice a week, usually along the trails, and wondered how the park would be able to keep track of all the violations.

"I don't think you could do that," Rodousakis said. "You would have to have a whole lot of people watching."

Brandt said that if rangers see a visitor with a dog off a leash, they will ask the person to leash it. Rangers can sometimes also offer twine or rope to attach to the dog's collar to use as a makeshift leash, or they will ask the person to leave and come back with a leash. They may be subject to a fine, Brandt said, although he did not know how much violators could be fined. In Montgomery County, the fine for keeping a dog off leash outside of a homeowner's property and not in a designated dog park is $100 for the first offense and $500 for each subsequent offense.

On one occasion several years ago, a ranger was assaulted when he asked a visitor to leash their dog, Brandt said. "The individual became belligerent to some extent and knocked the ranger to the ground," Brandt said. The person was fined and charged with assaulting the ranger, Brandt said.

Brandt said he suspects most people who keep their dogs off leash are aware it's a violation, he said. "Every time someone sees me walking down the towpath in my ranger uniform and my flat hat, 95 percent of the time [people with unleashed dogs] reach down and put their leash on a dog's collar," Brandt said. "People know it's a regulation. I think most people don't think it's OK in a national park, but they think they can get away with it."

Dennis has advocated for the park to post signage that includes a phone number where visitors can report violations. Brandt said he is evaluating the option.